Outside the 107% ~ Simon Psychobabble #1

Hmm, it's my first editiorial post for Race Department and I feel even less prepared than the Korean GP circuit... quick someone get a crane and tip it over again...Some people who say you can have too much of a good thing obviously lie. I simply can't get enough Sim Racing. I'm sure there's plenty of you out there that feel the same. When I get home from workies (oh the joy) first thing I do, after feeding my face of course, is usually jump onto the net and do something sim racing related be it race, team manage, commentate, podcast, administrate or just generally chat away to fellow racers. Now probably against the media teams better judgement I've been let loose to have own weekly column. Maybe I should get some interested outside of sim racing! I eat, what more do people want! For the record, I eat very nicely thanks .

So what is it that makes Sim Racing such a great thing to be involved in?

Is it the thrill of the battle? Is it fulfilling a dream that for just a split second you are completely immersed in a sport that lets you feel like a real sporting hero? Is it simply the need to game at high speed? Maybe its the community and the way how you can form friendships and arch rivals, all in jest of course, and live out your own saga? Perhaps it could be part of finding your own identity with a team? Creating your own flair with liveries and track designs? Talking on your mobile while racing cars just to be defiant to the laws in your own way? The possibilities are endless.

For me its a combination of many of the above. Plus I can eat all I want and still be just as good in the aerodynamic department as everyone else, although less about any other departments said the better. It lets me get stuck in with all aspects of my personality while creating a great social network of friends from all over the world while doing something I love to do. What more could I ask for? Well more chilli sauce on these chips for a start... but that's for another day.

I think it's quite well known I'm not exact "Steller" as Martin Brundle would say as he grades the grid girls on his grid walks, when it comes to racing. There is one thing I am absolutely defiant on though. I will absolutely try my best and I don't care how buggered the car is, if the engines still going, I will bring the car home! Wheel's are for wimps! It has lead to some of the most hilarious moments of my sim racing career. If people recall my wonderful team at RDLMS' Fuji race getting lapped an epic 60 times, they must wonder "why does this guy hire these people?" Well let me show you exactly how their manager fared in his first Endurance outing:

I'm so proud!

However, coming from such beginnings, as many new racers do, when you do well and say score a point (never, no, shock!!!) you get such an elation, its like your on top of the world. I think everyone gets this moment when they achieve something really special in their sim racing career, be it their first pole, win, point, or as it was for me, the first time I actually qualified for a race in a top league. I'd like to name this moment: Simgasm! Once you've had one, your married to it. You'll take your copy of rfactor out to dinner, stroke its box at night in bed and caress the manual. You'll lovingly display your sim racing trophies on facebook. You'll burn your first broadcasted race onto DVD for the family to watch. You will ignore everyone else silently slitting their wrists with boredom while you show them for the tenth time on slow motion that the car in the top left corner right in the distance is you (yes, that was me with my partner of the time and yes we're not together now - can't think why... must be all the chocolate I eat).

I feel I'm preaching to the converted but we are all here, let's unite brothers! Join me in a toast (ooh jam on mine please) - to Sim Racing!!!

So what will "Outside the 107%" become in the future? Well I'll be talking aimlessly as usual, be revisiting games from way back in the day (nostalgia trips for ye olde simmies) , answering any questions you have and going off on a tangent all from the comfort of my own chocolate fountain. I hope everyone gets to enjoy this new venture and I hope you all come back next time with some snacks. Hmm... now I really must go, my tummy's not up to much. Maybe you really can have too much of a good thing...

Slowest Racer in Town...

As a long-standing (and occasionally sitting holding a G25) member of the 'slower' simracing fraternity - which most of the time seems to consist of just me - I wholeheartedly approve of this product or service, and all who sail in her.

Excellent read, Simon. I can tell you right now, I've had many of these so-called "Simgasms"... My first pole and first win are still fresh in my mind - in a Volvo C30 at Ledenon for the first and Minis at Hockenheim Short for the second. It's approaching three years since I began sim racing, and I don't want to stop at all.